Hiraeth || Miraculous Ladybug

Two - Trust

"I don't know, what if you're Felix?" Ladybug breathed heavily, signaling an oncoming panic attack.

"If you're gonna trust me once, please let it be this time." Adrien urged her as he stood in the door frame, his tone was gentle but urgent, and he shut the door.

Ladybug collapsed and called off her transformation, revealing her civilian self. Her chest heaved with heavy sobs that escaped her body and she lowered herself to the floor. Tightening her arms around herself, she cried out. "Please hurry, Tikki, we can't let them take all the Miraculous. Please let there be some left. There has to be some left." Tikki quickened her pace to refuel her strength. Even the small Kwami showed distress on her tiny face, which wasn't the most like her.

"It's okay, we will figure this out." Tikki spoke hurriedly between bites of the pink macaroon. "I'm sure Chat Noir will help."

"Chat Noir is going to hate me." Marinette broke and sobbed out. "He won't forgive me after I made such a big mistake."

Adrien heard the detransformed girl talking to what he believed to be the kwami. His heart hurt hearing her cry, and it dropped even more hearing how distressed she is thinking about how his hero form will react to her mistake. He winced and shut his eyes, resting his forehead against the bathroom door and rested an open hand against it. The white paint felt cold under his palm, which only stressed him out more. Moments passed and Adrien sighed as he was waiting outside the door. He hesitantly moved his hand to the door handle. He took a deep breath in, held it and then released it. He repeated it a second time. "I'm sorry, Ladybug. I can't just listen to you cry." He threw open the door, his eyes shut tightly. He lowered himself to the floor in front of her, settling down on his knees and extending his arms outwards. He kept his eyes shut and listened for any movement from her.

"You're not alone through this." He reassured her with a comforting smile. He sat there in silence with her, waiting to see if she would say anything. He could hear her breathing and realized she was most likely only a couple feet from him, and that she was probably staring at him, worried he would open his eyes. "I promise I won't open my eyes. I wouldn't do that to you." He rambled, starting to get nervous that he made things worse, before his breath caught in his throat from the sudden force of a warm body crashing against his chest. He put a hand back to steady himself, followed by wrapping his arms around her without hesitation and burying his face in the top of her blue hair. 

It wasn't often that Ladybug would let him so close, let alone allow him to embrace her. He breathed in the smell of her hair, traces of mint shampoo as well as a faint sweet scent, though he was unsure what that would be from. He adjusted his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer so she was sitting slouched on her knees, in between his legs. "I don't fully know what happened. But I know it was an accident, and try not to blame yourself. I promise Chat Noir will understand." His words muffled into her hair softly.

Marinette cried harder and wrapped her arms under Adrien's collared shirt, but over top of the striped t-shirt he wore underneath. "He's-" She tried to choke out but her voice broke. "He's not going to forgive me for this. He won't trust me-" Her voice broke into more heart wrenching sadness. "He's going to hate me." 

"Shhhh." Adrien placed a hand on the back of her head gently and stroked her soft hair, which was slowly slipping out of its pigtails from the past battle. "He's not going to hate you, I promise it's okay." He felt her shift in his arms and move back a bit. He was suddenly met by the gentle slap of a hand going over his eyes, and when she started to speak he could hear more panic rising in her tone. 

"You're going to hate me if you know who I am under the mask. What a failure I am." She whispered and her hand squeezed over his eyes a bit tighter. "You won't want to be my friend anymore." She admitted.

"Ladybug, do I know you? Are we friends outside of your hero identity?" Adrien spoke slowly but she could hear the wonder and nervousness in his voice from asking. Marinette sighed and moved away from him, removing her hand from his eyes which he kept closed. She turned to lean against the wall that was beside her, with Tikki joining afterwards.

Marinette stayed quiet for a moment, unsure if she should be honest or not. She was so tired of lying to people, her chest hurt from the pressure of lying about who she truly was. She just wanted to be honest with someone, to let all her troubles out and to share with someone the pain she is dealing with. She glanced back at Adrien with a sad smile. "I shouldn't tell you this, but yes, you know me, Adrien. I don't know for how long, though." She chuckled sadly and continued. "You're going to hate me." Her voice trailed off and she shut her eyes, leaning her head back on the wall with a heavier thud than she meant to.

"I could never hate you, Ladybug. I admire everything you do for everyone. You're selfless, you're brave, you always put others first. You're truly a beautiful person." He admitted and silently hated himself for the last part, a soft blush glowing on his cheeks. He heard Ladybug suppress another cry, and he reached his hand out hoping she would take it. When a smaller hand met his, he closed his fingers around her hand and ran his thumb comfortingly over it. 

"You're going to be so disappointed it's me." She sniffled.

"I could never." He promised. "Well, unless you're Lyla." He half joked, which got a small laugh out of her and her hand tightened around his.  "I will never hate you. It doesn't matter what happens, I could never find it in my heart to hate you. Please trust me, Ladybug." 

He felt another gentle squeeze on his hand before hers was pulled away, taking the warmth away with it.

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1079 words